Getting passing chunks--namely 28-, 44- and 66-yard touchdown passes from Jim Miller to Marty Booker--did not merely win Sunday's game for the Bears. It restored sanity to an offense and a team that were just as itchy for the big play on offense as its fans have been.

"We want to be able to put people away, and we've got to be able to do that," Miller said. "We've been so bad for so long, there's no reason to not just go for the jugular. Hopefully, we'll get a little bit of that swagger back and we'll be just fine."

So predictable in their short game had the Bears become that Bucs defensive tackle Warren Sapp said he was "shocked" by the Bears' passing game, which had just its second 100-yard receiving game of the season with Booker's 165 yards.

If Shoop doesn't get Booker seriously injured the rest of the way, it's pretty evident he'll remain a big-play threat. Not as tall or as fast as Marcus Robinson, but faster than people think, with great breakaway ability and strong as an ox.

Was it nice to see Miller go downfield, offensive tackle James Williams was asked? "Was it really nice to see plays called for Jim to go downfield? Is that what you're saying?" Williams said. "Yeah, it is."

"You can't always keep them out of the box. But if they have the fear of Miller going downfield or Shane [Matthews] going downfield, then [Bucs safety John] Lynch can't be in there all the time. That's the way it is for every team. If you fear the run, bring nine in the box. If you fear that pass even more, you can't have all those people up there."

Shoop, who looked only slightly less relieved after the victory than a pale, hoarse coach Dick Jauron was after accepting responsibility for the three kneel-downs, claims he didn't call the Tampa game any differently than he did the Green Bay game.

"A lot of people, I know, say we don't throw the ball down the field," Shoop said. "We do. Last week, one of the things we lacked against Green Bay was chunks in our offense. I recognize it. It wasn't from not taking the shots, it's just that we didn't get them."

In the last three games combined, the Bears had completed only two passes for more than 30 yards--one for 34 yards and one for 32.

Shoop said the Bears were simply "ripe" Sunday for some deep success, even though they were playing the league's fourth-ranked pass defense.

"My college baseball coach used to keep moving me further and further down in the lineup, and I told him I wasn't in a slump, I was just due," Shoop said. "We threw the ball deep a few times against Green Bay, and we didn't quite get it. This week we did."

No one is going to argue that in a 16-game NFL season, we all tend to overreact each week, both positively and negatively. But the impact of the big pass play can't be overstated.

"The one play we missed out on when I got sacked in the second half was the same type of play-action [that worked to Booker] and David Terrell was coming wide open on an end route," Miller said. "I just didn't have time to throw it.

"They had a good blitz on, so they started to double Marty and sure enough, Terrell was going to start to be wide open, but at that point we were ahead by such a margin we just wanted to play smart football."

We should take note of Miller's comments because the words "smart" and "football" were not often uttered together Sunday. Also because Jauron should be cut some slack when he says Terrell isn't quite NFL-ready given his two costly penalties and a drop Sunday.

Here's hoping Miller hasn't lost confidence in the rookie, or worse, that Terrell isn't starting to lose confidence in himself. Asked if it was good to see Miller go deep to Booker, Terrell smiled. "Yeah, it was," he said. "I wish it was me, but not yet."

It can't wait too long. Booker, still getting man coverage, will now need support just as Robinson once did. Meanwhile, drawing up the game plan for Minnesota should be a good time.

"We definitely put a little something into their head now," Williams said. "They'll have to do something a little different now to game plan for us."